Thomas Jones, a retired running back who played for five teams in 12 NFL seasons, has decided to donate his brain upon his death to the Sports Legacy Institute to be studied for evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Jones said he has no idea how many concussions he sustained, but that he's concerned with what they could mean for his future.

"Honestly, like I couldn't give you a number because you just play with them," Jones said. "You can't know; nobody does. I think the guys counting the concussions were the ones that got knocked out."

The Sports Legacy Institute won't confirm individual donations, but a spokesperson said that more than 600 living athletes have decided to donate their brains to be studied. Of 34 neural tissue samples from NFL players, 33 had evidence of CTE. Jones said he can only guess at what has happened to his brain after 20 years of games and practices -- and numerous "baby concussions" -- through his NFL, college and high school career.

"It's like taking a fresh, ripe apple and tapping it with your thumb over and over again," Jones said.

Jones is in the editing process of a documentary series, "The NFL: The Gift or the Curse?" The first of six planned episodes, produced by Jones' company Independently Major Entertainment Films, deals with concussions and suicide.

He interviewed Ann McKee, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University and co-director Chris Nowinski about the issue. Jones decided to make his donation after conducting interviews for the project.

Last week, Junior Seau's family revealed that his brain showed evidence of CTE when he committed suicide last year. This generation of players is the first to play with concrete evidence that they could be compromising not-too-distant futures by playing professional football.

In the documentary, Jones also interviewed former defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who was drafted by the Dolphins in 2000. Ogunleye sees ominous signs in what might just be everyday forgetfulness.

"Somebody might tell me their name; I don't remember it right away," Ogunleye said. "Now I kind of laugh it off but when stuff like that happens, I'll be like, 'Damn, I hope these concussions don't come back to haunt us in the end.' And if they do, I just pray someone is there to help me through the tough times that may come."

In the rough cut, Ogunleye then puts his face in his hands. Jones comes over and puts his arm on Ogunleye's shoulder.

These issues are personal for NFL players. Jones uses the example of Dave Duerson's suicide in February of last year.

"His suicide, you see it on TV and it's just news," Jones said. "But to us, it's more than that."

Jones envisions the series as the players speaking directly to the fans about the pitfalls of playing in the NFL. He understands that many people see attaining the dream of playing in the NFL as a dream come true, but wants to show what it looks like through the eyes of the men who reached that goal.

"The fans look at it as money," Jones said, "but once you've bought everything you want, you realize there is more you want out of life."

The series also will focus on issues such as domestic violence and financial pressures. Jones is talking with possible distributors for the project.

I'll spend a few minutes on this, though God knows why because I damn well know it's a waste of time:

1. until the last few years, nobody really understood just how damaging multiple concussions could be to the quality of life of football players post-career. So yes, they understood the risk of injury, but did they understand that multiple concussions might leave them seriously mentally impaired on a daily basis by the time they were 50? Hell no.

'Nobody'? Actually neurologists did know. 'Multiple concussions causes brain damage and increases the chance of future concussions" was something the NFL knew about and lied to their players about for 20 years.

Yet this information was readily available to me as a 16 year old kid doing a high school report over 15 years ago. To say 'nobody knew' is a lie intentional or not. The entire neurological community knew.

I sympathize that the players were lied to, but I'm also somewhat embarrassed that they allowed themselves to be so ignorant they believed these lies that contradicted all medical facts from the qualified community.

One thing that I have heard elsewhere before was the idea of going back to the old time leather helmets and minimal pads. Right now the NFL players use their bodies as weapons because they are wearing suits of armor. Back when they had minimal padding, they had to learn the real fundamentals of the game and how to attack in control so no one got hurt. While I don't think this is THE ANSWER, I do believe there is some merit to this line of thought.

Nice Post. It actually make sense. I had a discussion with a rugby fan who said that NFL players were pussies for even wearing helmets and pads. I argued that those helmets and pads actually increase the violent impacts in the game, and I'll bet if they did a study, they would find that there are fewer CCn's in rugby because people would not lead with their heads if they didn't have those helmets on, and there's no way you can hit with the force that they do in the NFL without the pads. I do think there would be MANY fewer concussions if they were not wearing so much equipment.